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I once heard that a long nose (witch / Pinocchio) is called 高い鼻 and not 長い鼻 whereas the opposite (short nose) is called 低い鼻 and never 短い鼻. but i couldn't be sure (i mean in english, a tall nose just sounds wrong)

Does anyone know what's the difference between a 低い鼻 vs 短い鼻 and a 高い鼻 vs a 長い鼻 ?

I think @Hikari may be onto something here: you might be misinterpreting the actual use of 高い/低い... The words are definitely common when describing the noses of westerners vs. Japanese, when describing the bridge of their nose. Westerners' noses tend to be longer, but also have a higher bridge. More than the length/size of the tip, it is the height of the bridge that Japanese often focus on.
–
Dave♦Jun 25 '11 at 2:33

3 Answers
3

The distinction is not directly due to human vs. non-human as the other answers say. In case of human, people are interested in the distance of the tip of the nose from the surface of the face (excluding the nose); hence the concept of height is relevant. With elephants, their nose is not a solid thing sticking straight out of their face. Rather, its hanging off the face; hence the notion of length is more appropriate.